Out of Nowhere, Man Waiting In Emergency Room Attacks a Muslim Teen

A Muslim teen in Dearborn, Michigan was checking in a hospital emergency room to have them check an injury. As the young woman talked to the receptionist, an older male who had been waiting sauntered up behind her.

He then shocked everyone by physically attacking the teen. The attack was captured on hospital surveillance video cameras.

John Deliz was a patient in the hospital until earlier that day, but he had been released. He was being sent home, but as per hospital policy, he couldn't leave without someone coming to pick him up.

The man had been wandering up and down the halls of the hospital, trying to bum cigarettes off people while he waited for someone to come. Security guards told him to sit and wait for his ride in the ER waiting room.

At that time, the unnamed 19-year-old girl came to check in. She had fallen on the ice earlier and hit her jaw. She was worried she might have fractured it. The teen was donning a hijab at the time.

As she spoke to the receptionist. Deliz walked up behind her. At first, he looked like he was going to the desk, but as soon as he got within reach of the girl he punched her from behind, striking the side of her head.

He then struck her once more in the face and pushed her down into a corner.

As soon as he struck the first blow, people swarmed to the teen's rescue. A security guard was the first to reach them and tackled Deliz to the ground.

The receptionist came around the desk, helped the teen up and swept her away. Medical staff from behind a door came pouring in to help.

The receptionist comforted the crying teen as the security guard detained Deliz and called for backup. The incident was over quickly. Deliz was taken into custody.

The young woman has filed a lawsuit against the hospital. According to her attorney, Majed Moughni, the hospital knew that the 57-year-old man was suffering from mental illness, but discharged him instead of treating him.

Deliz is bipolar and schizophrenic. He revealed that he had escaped from a group home and had not been taking his medication, yet he was permitted to roam around freely.

"Instead of giving him mental treatment, they put him back in the patient pool, thereby giving way to his attack," the attorney claims.

"She'll never probably be the same person again. She's emotionally distressed," Moughni said to The Detroit News. "She's always looking behind her to make sure she's not going to get attacked again."

In a statement from Beaumont Hospital, the staff acted appropriately under the circumstances. "Beaumont security personnel responded immediately and took action to protect the patient and others in the emergency room," the spokesperson said.

Moughni says that the attack looks like it was religiously motivated. "Certainly, after watching the video, and hearing my client's version of events, the circumstantial evidence would lead one to conclude that the attack was religiously motivated," he told CBS News in a statement.

"There were five people in the lobby and my client was the only one who wore the hijab."